Tag: dry skin

I have told you before; it is dry here. Not just dry, like you might need some lotion and lip balm, it’s eczema, skin itching, nose bleed dry here in Colorado. I love to travel places with humidity. But, my home is here. In the winter, lotion doesn’t cut it, even though I make the most fabulous lotion, I need something stronger in the cold, dry months of furnace and wood stove and zero percent humidity. Last year I showed you how to heat infuse herb oils in the crock pot to keep in the bathroom for after you shower. This year I want to show you how to make a really great thick skin salve that can be used on cracked heels, finger tips, dry patches, or if you live in the desert, all over your body!

It’s quite simple, really. In a wide mouth quart jar add 2 Tablespoons each of calendula flowers and comfrey leaves and 1 Tablespoon of lavender and/or roses. (Try online at mountainroseherbs.com or at your local health food store. Next year grow them!)

Now pour in 2 cups of olive or sunflower oil.

Put jar in saucepan and pour water in pan to half way up jar. Bring to boil. Make sure no water jumps in the quart jar. Double boil the jar of oil for 45 minutes. (You could place it in a sauce pan directly and heat on medium low for 20 minutes, stirring often, but you really risk burning it.) I like to use a chop stick to stir every five minutes or so. Keep an eye on your water level!

When the oil is infused, strain the herbs out through a fine sieve and put oil in a clean, dry, wide mouth pint jar. Add 1.5 ounces of beeswax, emulsifying, or candelilla wax to oil. Heat in double boiler again until wax is melted. Stir with a chop stick often.

When completely melted, you can add 30 drops of lavender essential oil, or leave it as is. Stir with chop stick once more and let cool on a towel on the counter until set. Do not cover until set.

The salve lasts for years but you will use it up in a month if you live in Colorado! Wishing you warm cups of tea and perfectly moisturized skin this holiday season, my Friends.

It is so dry around here that I do believe a stale cracker blowing across the desert in a windstorm has more moisture than my skin has right now. Colorado is always dry-most of the state is high desert- but winter is the worst! It is time to make a nourishing infused oil and calm that itching down.

A small crock pot is perfect to keep in the bathroom plugged in. After the concoction is infused in the crock pot, you merely have to turn it on warm as you get into the shower. Or pour a bit into the bath. Use on lips, hands, face; the whole body will just absorb it with fervor.

You can easily just use the oil as is. In Ayurveda sesame oil is used. Olive oil is a natural sunscreen and has a long shelf life. But I am more of a sunflower girl, myself. Rich in vitamin E and oleic acid, sunflower oil is nourishing and absorbs easily. I am also an herbalist so I infuse some medicinal herbs into my oil. It makes it all the better.

In 32 ounces of sunflower oil poured into the crock pot, I added a small handful of roses, calendula, mullein leaves, and lemon verbena. I let that infuse on low for a few hours. The herbs are dried so they won’t mold and sunflower oil lasts easily two years. Other herbs that might be nice are lavender, pine, or geranium.

No need to strain. I use my fingers to apply but you could use a small sponge. This time of year the oil absorbs faster than you can apply it so be liberal and feel great.

Katie Lynn Sanders is an urban Farmgirl, writer, Mama, Grammie, and herbalist. Katie lives with her husband, Gandalf the Great Pyrenees, kitties, and seven chickens in a hundred year old adobe in Pueblo. She is the writer of two blogs; FarmgirlSchool.org and DancingWithFeathers.com. You can find all of Katie's books at www.AuthorKatieSanders.com